


like nothing's wrong

by hatae



Category: X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Character Turned Into a Ghost, Crushes, Fluff and Angst, Ghosts, Hangyul is probably the worst ghost to ever exist, Hugs, Humor, M/M, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-07-31 10:04:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20113324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hatae/pseuds/hatae
Summary: “What the hell, listen to this.”, he says and Hangyul looks up from the book he thought looked the most legit. Seungyoun reads: 'Ghosts are human beings who have died, but whose spirit roams on. They often haunt other beings and find pleasure in causing them harm.”He gasps. “Do you find pleasure in causing me harm, Hangyul? Is this you haunting me?”The ghost rolls his eyes. “Right, this is obviously me haunting you. I’m a spooky boy, that’s why I’m doing your dishes tonight.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ngl seungyul has my heart
> 
> also wow it's our all rounder's birthday, isn't that neat??

Seungyoun’s decision to move out of his mother’s place isn’t one he makes easily. He loves his mom with all his heart and he knows she does as well. It’s just that…he’s 23 and he’s got a somewhat stable job as a producer. Watching all his friends moving out has opened his eyes that he needs to do this now or he’s never doing it at all.

So after a lot of promises to his mom to visit at least once a week and call her everyday he moves out. Him and his mom have never had it bad, so with her pitching it he finds an apartment that isn’t too shabby.

It’s got big windows in every room, making it so that he’s woken up by the sunrise and it’s modern enough.

It’s the perfect apartment for him, he thinks as he watches Seoul waking up through his window as he’s eating breakfast the first day in his new apartment.

There’s just one thing off about it. He just can’t seem to put his finger on it. He notices, though. The stares his neighbors give him when he runs into them into the hallway. The nervous smile the real estate agent gave them when his mother asked about the previous tenant.

Small things like that.

For now he pushes them to the back of his mind, though. He goes to work, goes out with friends and he feels like proper grown up for the first time in his life. He’s always been the one being babied, be it by his friends, family or colleagues. He supposes it makes sense, he’s often been the younger one, he’s got a childlike personality in general and likes for people to like him.

Then he begins to notice other things that are less easy to ignore.

It aren’t big things, in fact, it’s things that he probably even wouldn’t even have noticed if the strange looks his neighbors keep giving him weren’t fresh in the back of his mind.

The first time he notices it’s his towel. He stares at it hanging neatly on its rack and thinks back on the evening before. He came back from work late and tired. He’d been working on a song that just hadn’t been coming together and he’d left three hours later in frustration.

He clearly remembers leaving his towel on the ground after showering, because all he wanted to do was sleep and he just couldn’t be bothered. He remembers because he’d stopped in the doorway and stared at it for a while before shaking his head and crawling straight into bed.

It’s when those small things keep piling up that Seungyoun starts to get suspicious. Things like the bags of ships he ate and hadn’t bothered to clean up being back in the cupboard the next day. Or the drawers being closed when he comes home from work and forgot to do it in the morning.

Strangely he’s not scared, because clearly whatever it is that’s in his apartment isn’t that dangerous. It’s helping Seungyoun clean up. He’s kind of worried about his own sanity, sure. But he’s not afraid.

He’s been thinking of addressing the presence, but that would mean acknowledging it and that’s one bridge too far, even for Seungyoun.

Or at least it was for sober Seungyoun.

Drunk, grumpy Seungyoun is a whole other story. He went out and got into a bit of an altercation with a guy getting a bit too handsy with one of his friends. Seungyoun isn’t one for fights, never has been, but seeing Jimin get progressively more uncomfortable as some dude cozies up to her had made his blood boil.

After some yelling him and Jimin had left the café and he’d gone straight home, after reassuring that Jimin got home safe first. She’s reassured him that she was fine multiple times, but he saw how pale she was and the way her lip trembled.

Now he’s standing in his living room, grumpy as all hell and more than a little drunk. He feels that same presence he always does, somehow amplified by the fact that he’s drunk.

“You can show yourself”, he finds himself slurring. “Whatever you are, you can show yourself to me.”

He’s met with silence. Seungyoun is ready to question his own sanity and consider going to a psychologist when suddenly there’s a boy in front of him. He doesn’t appear slowly, doesn’t start out as a faceless shape and then slowly gets clearer. He’s not there one second and then the next he is. Seungyoun blinks at him, heart wildly beating in his throat. The boy isn’t old, clearly around Seungyoun’s age. For a while they just stare at each other.

“You called?”, the guy then asks, his voice is low and fits his face, which is all sharp edges. Seungyoun stumbles back, startled. Somehow him speaking belatedly makes him realize that this whole situation is not normal and possibly dangerous. As he does so he trips over a discarded water bottle.

Couldn’t he have cleaned that as well, Seungyoun thinks as he’s going down.

The guy’s eyes widen and he reaches for Seungyoun, the last thing he feels is his hand closing around his wrist and then everything goes black.

* * *

When he wakes up he panics for a second and wildly looks around. Then he notices that he’s laying in his own bed, not on the ground of the living floor with a concussion. He laughs, relief coursing through him. That was one hell of a realistic dream.

As if there was really some hot ghost or whatever living with him cleaning up his messes.

He laughs at himself and walks to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. Except there’s already toast and eggs waiting for him. Along with the boy he saw in his dreams.

Except there he is sitting in all his sheepish glory, he stands up as soon as Seungyoun enters and motions to the breakfast.

“I made this for you”, he says and Seungyoun represses the urge to laugh hysterically and instead nods. He ignores all his rational instincts that are yelling for him to get the hell out of there. He’d seen the guy appear out of thin air for crying out loud. He stiffly sits down next to him and starts eating. It tastes fine, perhaps a little burned.

“Is it good?”, the guy asks nervously and Seungyoun turns to look at him. He looks normal enough. He doesn’t look like the ghosts one would see in movies. He’s not unnaturally pale, in fact he’s got a bit of a tan. He also isn’t wearing clothes from the 14th century and he’s positively not see-through. Seungyoun relaxes a bit.

He nods.

The guy grins. “Good.”

Then they stare at each other again. It’s a déjà vu almost. Except this times Seungyoun isn’t drunk out of his mind.

“Who-?”, he starts.

“I’m-“, the guy says at the same time.

Seungyoun laughs and the guy grins, some of the nervous lines in his face smoothing out.

“You first”, he smiles at the dude who really isn’t supposed to be here at all, but he’s been helping Seungyoun a lot, so he can’t be all that bad.

“I’m Lee Hangyul. Sorry I scared you yesterday. In retrospect I probably shouldn’t have appeared like that. I’m sure you’ve got a ton of questions, so lay them on me”, the guy, Hangyul, says.

“I do, actually”, Seungyoun says, enthusiastically shoving some more of the slightly burned eggs in his mouth. “What are you?”

“I’m not too sure myself, I supposed you could say I’m a ghost”, Hangyul says after a moment of silence.

Seungyoun frowns a bit. “You suppose?”

  
“I’m not too sure why I’m still here”, Hangyul confesses, Seungyoun wants to ask more, but something on Hangyul’s face tells him that that wouldn’t be welcome. For a second he considers asking how he died, but that would be overstepping his boundaries. What does one even ask a ghost?

“Have you been dead for a long time?”, he asks.

“Just shy of a year”, Hangyul says.

Seungyoun scrapes the last bit of the eggs from his plate.

“How old were you when you died?”, he asks as he stands up to put his plate away.

“Nineteen.”

So young to die. Younger than Seungyoun had expected. He decides he’s asked enough questions about that particular subject.

“Why are you helping me like that?”, he asks, genuinely curious. He can’t help but wonder. Is he doing this to repent? Or just because he’s that nice?

“I’m stuck in here, so I might as well”, the other boy shrugs. That makes sense, a way to pass the boredom. Then Seungyoun freezes.

“Wait, you’re stuck in here?”

Hangyul nods.

“Like, all day everyday?”, he asks, just to make sure.

“All day every day”, Hangyul nods gloomily.

“That sucks”, he says, not knowing what else to say. He can’t imagine not being able to go outside. He’d surely go mad in two days.

This startles a laugh out of his new ghost friend. “Tell me about it.”

* * *

He gets used to Hangyul quickly. Probably a little too quickly, he has to admit when he yells at Hangyul that he’s home three days later and Hangyul yells back that he’s made dinner already. He just can’t help it, he likes people and Hangyul’s easy to get along with.

He can be a little bit distant sometimes, but Seungyoun’s always liked a challenge. Has always liked getting closer to people and getting to know them, peeling that mask they wear away piece by piece. It’s what he’s best at. Even if it means Hangyul gets a little grumpy by Seungyoun’s many questions.

“Oh my God, what does it matter how many cats my aunt has?”, Hangyul asks irritably when Seungyoun’s been bombarding him with questions about his adoptive family one evening.

“It’s important”, he whines.

“Important how?”, he asks, giving Seungyoun a deadpan look

“I love cats”, Seungyoun says with a small grin. That earns him a pillow in the face. He throws it back, but it just goes right through Hangyul. He sits there spluttering for a couple of seconds as Hangyul leaves the room with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Though no matter how much Seungyoun likes Hangyul, his constant there-ness can be a little much sometimes, especially those first few weeks. Every time Seungyoun gets home he’s on the couch watching tv or behind Seungyoun’s laptop. Hangyul seems to sense when Seungyoun needs some space, though and he gives him exactly that.

The first time it happens Seungyoun panics.

Hangyul has been constantly there for about two weeks and then he suddenly isn’t on the one day Seungyoun doesn’t greet him when he enters. It’s been a harsh day, one of his customer yelled at him because the song Seungyoun sent him wasn’t exactly the way he wanted it to be. Then his boss yelled at him because the customer had called him to complain about Seungyoun and he kinda just wants to crawl into his bed and sleep for days.

After exiting his room about an hour later, only to find no dinner and more importantly, no Hangyul waiting for him searches the entire apartment, two times. The second time his heart is beating wildly in his throat when he doesn’t find the other boy anywhere.

“Hangyul!”, he yells, after going as far as to look behind the tv, the only space in the house he hasn’t searched yet. Probably because only a child could fit in the space behind it, but he’s desperate. “Hangyul, where are you?”

Thousands of possibilities run through his mind, each one more horrifying than the last.

  
What if Hangyul decided he had enough of Seungyoun and just moved on without saying goodbye? What if he tried to leave and was instantly vaporized? What if, while Seungyoun was gone, some sort of priest had cleansed the place and Hangyul along with it.

In the end he nearly drives himself to tears with his own thoughts.

“Hangyul?”, he tries again, voice breaking as he does. Instantly he feels that familiar presence behind him. He whips around.

“What’s wrong?”, Hangyul asks, frowning a bit as he takes in how obviously distraught Seungyoun is.

“You’re still here”, Seungyoun breathes, relief coursing through him. He throws his arms around his friend’s shoulders and pulls him close. Hangyul is stiff in his arms at first, but then Seungyoun sniffles and buries his face in his neck and the resolve Hangyul has left crumbles as he puts his arms around Seungyoun’s waist and hugs him back.

“Where were you? I searched everywhere”, Seungyoun eventually manages to ask when his heart isn’t threatening to jump out of his chest anymore with how fast it’s beating. He leans back to look into Hangyul’s eyes.

But the other boy isn’t looking back, he’s looking at his shoes. Seungyoun gently shakes him a bit. “Hey, Hangyul. Talk to me.”

At that Hangyul does look up, biting his lip. “I sensed you were sad and wanted to be left alone. So…”

Seungyoun makes a mental note to ask him about this sensing-thing later.

“Where did you go? I thought you couldn’t leave the apartment?”, he asks.

“I can’t. It’s….It’s difficult to explain”, Hangyul sighs. Seungyoun gives him a look that clearly leaves no room for discussion and he attempts to explain. “It’s like I can float away in my own head. It’s really pretty where I go when I let go. I’m at peace. _Alone._”

Seungyoun is slightly disturbed by the look of bliss on Hangyul’s face.

“But you’re actually gone when you’re there. I couldn’t feel you.” He cringes as soon as the words leave his mouth. Hangyul raises his eyebrows. Seungyoun lets out a nervous giggle and lets go of him. The other boy’s hands fall away from his waist. He almost misses the contact. “I mean…even before I could see you I could always feel your presence. And just now…I couldn’t.”

“That makes sense, actually”, Hangyul says with a small nod. “I think the place I visit when I let go isn’t on earth or…anywhere really. It’s in my own head.”

After that it becomes a reoccurring occurrence. Sometimes Seungyoun gets sad and then Hangyul leaves to hang out in his own head. Seungyoun’s learned not to question him about it too much.

Seungyoun wonders sometimes, though.

He wonders how Hangyul died. He could search it up and be done with it, but that seems like breaking Hangyul’s trust and if there’s one thing Seungyoun doesn’t want to do it’s break Hangyul’s trust.

So he waits until he’s absolutely certain Hangyul and him are friends.

“Hangyul?”, he asks one evening, as they’re watching a movie. It’s a dumb movie, some romcom Seungyoun had insisted he wanted to see. Now that they’re watching he wonders why he was so insistent, he doesn’t even like it that much. Hangyul looks up from where he was massaging Seungyoun’s calves. Seungyoun’s laying on the couch with his legs on Hangyul’s lap. Hangyul hadn’t even said anything when Seungyoun threw his legs over his, he’d just started massaging them.

“How did you die?”, he asks quietly.

On screen the female lead cries loudly in the rain as the male lead walks away. Seungyoun startles, grabs the remote and lowers the volume.

“I was murdered”, Hangyul says, just as quiet. Seungyoun abruptly sits up, disbelief coursing through him.

“What?”, he asks loudly.

“Some dude came in here to rob me, I woke up and…it was an accident really. He must’ve panicked and grabbed a knife. I tried to be the hero and…”, Hangyul’s voice dies out. Seungyoun doesn’t need to ask what happened next. He suddenly feels really small, staring at Hangyul telling him how he was murdered. He must’ve been so scared.

  
Suddenly the looks his neighbors keep sending his way make a lot more sense.

“Next think I know I wake up again, at first I thought I’d somehow survived, but then I saw my own body laying there and I knew I didn’t”, Hangyul’s low voice is hoarse when he says that. Seungyoun puts an arm around him, it’s kind of awkward with his legs still over Hangyul’s, but it’s worth it when Hangyul puts his head on Seungyoun’s shoulder. At first he wasn’t really one for skinship, but it seems Seungyoun’s affectionate gestures have rubbed off on him. Or maybe he just really needs a shoulder to lean on. Has probably needed it for a long time.

“Why do you think you’re still here?”, he asks into Hangyul’s hair.

Hangyul shrugs. “That’s what I’ve been trying to find out these past couple of weeks.”

Seungyoun’s absolutely scandalized. That’s what Hangyul’s been doing on Seungyoun’s laptop. “You should’ve asked me for help!”

He half expects a snarky remark, but it seems being emotional has left Hangyul without his usual snarkiness. “I probably should have.”

“Damn right you should have!”, Seungyoun says. “I’m going to the library first thing tomorrow! You’d better be prepared to read a whole lot, ghost boy.”

Hangyul snorts and leans away from Seungyoun. “Ghost boy?”

“My new nickname for you, you like it?”, he asks with a disarming smile.

“I absolutely hate it”, Hangyul deadpans.

“You’ll get used to it”, Seungyoun giggles and they go back to watching the movie.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you soo much for the positive reaction on the previous chapter, that always makes my day :')

The next day he brings back about ten books about spirituality and ghosts. The librarian gave him a bit of a weird look, but it’s worth it to see the look Hangyul gives him when he takes the first book and reads the title.

“’_A dummy’s guide to ghosts?_’ Seriously?”

“It’s for me!”, Seungyoun defends himself, snatching the book from Hangyul and holding it protectively against his chest. “I need to educate myself first!”

“Oh my god, why did I think this was a good idea again?”

Seungyoun pouts, but has to admit about ten pages into his ‘educational’ book that it probably wasn’t that good of an idea.

“What the hell, listen to this.”, he says and Hangyul looks up from the book he thought looked the most legit. Seungyoun reads: “_A ghost is often an evil spirit. They are, however, not demons. Those are creatures from hell, only appearing on earth when they are summoned. Ghosts are human beings who have died, but whose spirit roams on. They often haunt other beings and find pleasure in causing them harm.”_

He gasps. “Do you find pleasure in causing me harm, Hangyul? Is this you haunting me?”

The ghost rolls his eyes. “Right, this is obviously me haunting you. I’m a spooky boy, that’s why I’m doing your dishes tonight.”

“Yeah, you are truly terrifying”, Seungyoun laughs when he watches Hangyul squint down at the pages.

After a couple of days of more research they end up finding two at least somewhat legitimate reasons as to why Hangyul could have remained on earth.

“Okay, so either you’re still here because you have unfinished business, or, you’re still here to take revenge on someone”, Seungyoun says as he paces. “That someone being your murderer, of course.”

“My murderer’s in prison, though”, Hangyul counters.

“The universe doesn’t know that, Hangyul”, Seungyoun says with a little eye roll.

“Then the universe’s a dumbass, Seungyoun”, Hangyul counters.

“Don’t talk about the universe like that. Also, I’m older than you”, Seungyoun tuts, still pacing. “But to be safe we should probably assume it’s the first option. Do you know what your unfinished business is?”

Hangyul looks hesitant. “No, I…I don’t think so.”

Seungyoun’s not as disappointed as he probably should be. “Well, then you should start thinking about –“

Hangyul grabbing his hand forces him to a stop and he mutters: “You’re making me nervous, just sit down.”

  
He pulls Seungyoun to sit next to him on the couch. Seungyoun doesn’t resist and instead looks at him expectantly. Hangyul laughs. “You’re cute.”

Seungyoun is very much aware of that. Instead he says: “I’m older than you.”

“So? You’re still cute”, Hangyul says and that’s the end of that. And if Hangyul notices the way Seungyoun’s ears have reddened he doesn’t say anything about it.

If being friends with a ghost is weird, then having a crush on one is even weirder. Because of course Seungyoun would develop a crush on a ghost, _of course._

“What is up with you?”, Jimin asks when she’s visiting him in his studio.

“Whatever do you mean?”, he asks innocently.

“You keep on sighing and literally not getting anything done”, she says with a small eye roll and yeah, she does have a point there.

He is not getting anything done.

“Yeah well, maybe if you didn’t visit me while I’m in the middle of work I would get something done”, he points out. She snorts, looks up from her phone and gives him the bird.

He loves Jimin, he really does, she’s been his best friends ever since middle school and has been with him through the worst time of his life, but sometimes he really want to throttle her. Like now.

He presses his lips together, gives her a tight smile and turns around to continue his ‘work’.

“Is it a girl?” He doesn’t answer. “A guy, then?”

He stiffens a bit and she lets out a small giggle. “You are so easy to read, wow.”

“I don’t want to talk about this with you”, he says, because how could he? She wouldn’t be able to see Hangyul anyway. He doesn’t understand it, but Hangyul had assured him when his mother came to visit that no one else could see him and low and behold, his mother had walked right past his ghost without even acknowledging him. For the entire evening.

“Why not? I’m the best at relationships”, she says offendedly. She really _really_ is. He lets out a sigh.

“Alright, so…hypothetically…if I had a crush on someone, but there’s no way we could ever let anyone know we’re together and I knew…I knew one day they’d have to leave me no matter what, is it a good idea to confess?”, he asks. When he looks up Jimin’s frowning.

“Who the fuck is this person you have a crush on? He sounds like the worst human being ever”, she bristles.

Seungyoun laughs. “He’s not a human being.”

“No, he’s not. He’s scum. Seungyoun, I don’t want you hanging around with someone like that”, she says worriedly.

He lets out another hollow laugh. If only she knew.

* * *

  
Seungyoun fully intends to let this dumbass crush just slowly fade away into nothingness, but then the worst day of his life happens. His boss gives him the worst earful he’s ever gotten. He calls Seungyoun lazy, untalented and other awful stuff. (He later finds out it’s because that one costumer that wasn’t happy with Seungyoun’s work threatened to sue him). Seungyoun takes it all in with his head held high.

He goes home in a daze, feeling strangely as though he’s in a dream. He quietly opens the door to their apartment. Hangyul is there at once.

“What’s wrong?”, he asks worriedly. “Why are you so upset?”

Right, the sensing-things. He’d never gotten around to asking after all.

“My boss, he yelled at me”, Seungyoun says with a small laugh that sounds dishonest even to his own ears. Strange, he really worked hard to perfect that one. “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

“You are not fine”, Hangyul says with a sad frown and fuck, Seungyoun’s heart aches. “You will be, but right now you’re not.”

Hangyul grabs Seungyoun’s hands and drags him along to the couch. He lays down on it and grabs Seungyoun’s hand when he just looks at him blankly. To his surprise Hangyul pulls him down on top of him, hugging him tight with his chin on top of Seungyoun’s head. Seungyoun knows for a fact that that position can’t be comfortable for him.

“You don’t have to do this”, he mutters. He knows Hangyul most of the time just lets Seungyoun manhandle him because he knows Seungyoun likes being touchy-feely.

“I know. I want to, though”, Hangyul says and Seungyoun’s heart swells. He likes Hangyul so fucking much, it’s unreal.

“I can sense that, you know”, Hangyul says quietly. “The way you feel right now.”

Seungyoun tightly grabs onto Hangyul’s shirt. He can hear Hangyul’s strong heartbeat beneath his ear and if he tries hard enough he can make himself belief him and Hangyul are just a normal couple of dudes cuddling on the couch, instead of him cuddling on the couch with a ghost only he can see.

“That’s cheating”, he mutters. “How come you can, anyway?”

“I suppose it’s like how you feel I’m there or not, except I feel your emotions”, Hangyul explains. “For me it started after you asked me to show myself.”

“How romantic”, Seungyoun says and he’s tired. He’s so tired.

Hangyul lets out a low laugh. It rumbles in his chest and Seungyoun can feel it. “Isn’t it?”

He lets out a sigh and looks up. Hangyul’s looking back at him with warm eyes and Seungyoun comes to a sudden realization. It makes sense, he guesses. All the signals were there.

Hangyul likes him too.

“Hangyul”, he starts and Hangyul shifts a bit, so he can look at him a little better. “What’s your unfinished business?”

And the way Hangyul’s expression quickly closes off tells him enough.

“I’ve told you I don’t know, hyung.”

Hangyul’s never called him hyung before. Normally he’d make a dumb joke about that, but today isn’t normal. He lays his head back down and listens to Hangyul’s heartbeat, exhaustion catching up with him quickly.

Just before he falls asleep he can hear Hangyul mumble a sentence that sounds suspiciously like it has the words _like_ and _you_ in them. Before he can ask Hangyul to repeat it he’s already drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Things aren’t necessarily tense between them after that. They’re just…different.

Seungyoun’s properly in love with Hangyul (Seungyoun blames him, how could he not be after what Hangyul did for him??) and he knows Hangyul’s in love with him, too. Otherwise he wouldn’t be going out of his way to not finish whatever business he’s left unfinished to remain on earth. To stay with Seungyoun.

Seungyoun knows he should probably tell Hangyul should face his business, that he should move on and that this thing they’ve got going on isn’t good for either of them, but he’s selfish and for now he’ll take what he can get. The thoughts plague him as he’s cooking dinner a couple of days later.

“What are you making?”, Hangyul asks and Seungyoun jumps a little when his arms snake around his waist and his chin comes to rest on his shoulder. He smiles despite himself, he knows Hangyul is _just_ tall enough to be able to do so.

“Why do you want to know, ghost boy? You can’t even eat it”, he says teasingly, leaning into Hangyul a bit. He’s warm and solid.

Hangyul gasps. “Wow, what did I ever do to you to deserve this slander?”

He’s long since given up on trying to correct Seungyoun on the nickname.

“So me stating the facts is slander now? What’s this world come to?”, he bemoans, adding some salt to the soup he’s making. He’s not necessarily a good cook, soup and eggs are about where his expertise ends in the craft, but he feels bad for making Hangyul cook all the time when he can’t even enjoy it himself. Hangyul assured him time and time again that he doesn’t feel hunger and that he shouldn’t worry, but Seungyoun still feels bad for him.

“No seriously, what is that?”, Hangyul asks, looking into the brown-ish liquid.

“It’s soup!”, Seungyoun says offendedly.

“What kind?”

“I just used some of the vegetables we had left in the house that were about to go bad!”, Seungyoun says.

“Oh”, Hangyul says, clearly not impressed.

Seungyoun frowns and squirm around in Hangyul’s arms, so that they’re face to face.

“Don’t ‘_oh_’ me, mister Lee”, he says, nailing the tone Hangyul just used. “This is an incredibly way to not waste food! My mom does it, as well. As did her mom before that.”

“Glad to know you’re living your best grandma-life”, Hangyul grins and Seungyoun reddens. Right, for a second his feelings made him forget this was still Hangyul he was talking to.

He gently pushes the other boy away. “Alright, you dick. I’m choosing to ignore that, but only because you make me food.”

In the end the soup isn’t that good, but Seungyoun pretends it is just to avoid Hangyul rubbing it in his face.

They spend the rest of the evening looking for vacancies since he really would rather not continue working where he was before. His boss did gruffly apologize to him, but Seungyoun is done being his punching bag whenever he’s in a bad mood. One small push from Hangyul set him over the edge and he’d promptly quit.

“If I were alive I’d hook you up with some friend of mine working at MBK”, Hangyul says wistfully as they search. Seungyoun looks up from his phone curiously, he’s been texting some idol friends to look for possibilities there. Hangyul doesn’t talk about his past often, seems to avoid it most of the time.

“Oh?”, he asks.

Hangyul looks up at him with unreadable eyes. “Then again, I’d also take you out on a date if I were alive.”

Seungyoun doesn’t miss a beat. “You still can.”

Hangyul snorts. “_Right_, we’ll have a nice date here in our apartment.”

Seungyoun beams. “Why not? We can if you set the mood right, put on some romantic music, dim the lights, light some candles, I bet we’ll have the most amazing date, ghost boy.”

“Given by that description it seems like we’ll be doing a lot more than just have a nice meal”, Hangyul deadpans and now Seungyoun does lose some of his composure.

He splutters. “Oh…Oh, no, I…I didn’t mean it like _that_, obviously.”

Hangyul pouts. “It’s because I’m a ghost, isn’t it?”

Seungyoun’s brain short-circuits and he gapes at Hangyul, who abruptly starts laughing. “You should see your face right now!”

He grits his teeth and throws a pillow at Hangyul, this time he’s unprepared, so it hits him square in the face. Any satisfaction he might’ve felt from that is gone as soon as it appeared, because Hangyul is still laughing his ass off, grabbing at his sides.

“What the hell, Lee Hangyul”, Seungyoun mutters petulantly, standing up. “You’re so mean to me.”

Before he can dramatically make his exit Hangyul grabs his hand from where he’s sitting on the couch, still giggling.

“Sorry, it was just funny. Don’t be mad”, he smiles and Seungyoun is so very weak. He squeezes Hangyul’s hand and leans down, so they’re eye-to-eye.

“For your information. I don’t care about the fact that you’re a ghost…and I wouldn’t mind doing more than just have a nice dinner”, he says and Hangyul’s eyes widen almost comically.

“Just saying”, he grins and then he makes his dramatic exit, feeling a lot better knowing he’s not the flustered one.

In the end his friend Yibo pulls a few strings and he’s able to get a job interview at Yibo’s company. It goes incredibly well and Seungyoun’s practically buzzing when he comes home that evening.

“I’m guessing it went well”, Hangyul grins as soon as Seungyoun enters the living room.

Seungyoun skips over to him and hugs him tight. “Yes, I’m 99,999 percent certain I have the job. Oh my God, ghost boy. I’m so happy!”

“I can see that”, Hangyul laughs and Seungyoun lets him go, only to grab his hands.

“Thank you, Hangyul. Really. I don’t know if I would’ve been able to do this without you”, he says sincerely.

“Yeah”, Hangyul says softly, eyes full of affection. “Yeah, you would’ve.”

And suddenly Seungyoun’s very aware of how close they are. His hands seemingly move on their own. Before he knows it he’s cupping Hangyul’s face. The other boy’s eyes are still so warm.

“Can I kiss you?”, he asks, suddenly nervous.

Hangyul’s hands come to rest of his hips and he nods. Despite asking him in the first place Seungyoun isn't sure who moves in first.  
In comparison to all the kisses he’s ever had, this one is the softest. He supposes it makes sense. He’s never felt quite like this about someone, has never actually properly been in love with someone, he realizes with a start. He’d just fooled himself into thinking he felt anything remotely close to love for his first long-term girlfriend, he realizes he kisses Hangyul. Emotions course through him as he deepens the kiss.

In the end it’s desperation that rears its ugly head, it’s desperation that makes him push Hangyul onto the couch and clamber on top of him. The kiss isn’t soft anymore, it’s all teeth and tongue. Hangyul’s fingers dig into his thighs, he might leave bruises. Seungyoun can’t fucking lose Hangyul. He _can’t_.

He breaks their kiss, puts his forehead again Hangyul’s and pants. “Fuck.” Hangyul’s eyes are dark when he looks into them, he’s also breathing heavily.

Seungyoun can’t lose Hangyul, but this can’t go on like this.

Seungyoun grabs his chin. “What’s your unfinished business?”

  
Hangyul’s grip on this thighs tightens, he leans forward again. “Seungyoun-“

Seungyoun isn’t going to be distracted this time. He turns his face away. “Hangyul, tell me.”  
He can feel Hangyul’s pants again his cheek. “I need to apologize to my mother.”

Seungyoun turns to look into his eyes. “Was that so hard?”

Hangyul promptly kisses him again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eyy look at that, we made it, my dudes

When Seungyoun wakes up the next morning he immediately notices Hangyul’s absence. Not only in his bed, but in general.

He buries his head in his pillow and sighs. He represses the immediate wave of worry. Hangyul’s done this before, going into his own head when he's overwhelmed. He’s able to repress it until it’s lunch time and Hangyul _still_ hasn’t returned.

He’s just quit his job, so he doesn’t have anything other to do than worry. He can’t exactly go out with any of his friends to distract himself, since it’s the middle of the day on a weekday. In the end he decides to just watch some videos to distract himself.

When he finally feels Hangyul again about two hours later he doesn’t look up from his phone, relief quickly turns into bitter anger. Hangyul’s silent, Seungyoun knows he must feel his silently fuming. In the end Seungyoun can’t take it anymore.

“Didn’t take you for the fuck and run-type”, he says tightly.

“I’m not.” Hangyul comes to sit next to him on the couch. Seungyoun refuses to look at him.

“You’re not? Pretty sure you booked it after we had sex, buddy”, Seungyoun says with an unamused snort, the youtube video he has playing blares annoyingly and he knows Hangyul doesn’t like it when he watches videos at full volume without his headphones. Well, he’s not going to turn it off.

But that doesn’t mean he’ll stop Hangyul when he gently grabs the phone from Seungyoun’s weak grip and pauses it.

“I’m sorry, I just needed to think”, Hangyul explains, putting his hand on Seungyoun’s leg. That reminds him of the evening before and he recoils, pulls his legs against his chest, causing Hangyul to pull his hand back.

“About what?”

“About what you said”, Hangyul says and now Seungyoun does look at him. He puts his head on his knees, examining him a little closer. Despite the fact that he doesn’t need to sleep, he looks exhausted.

“The unfinished business?”, he asks.

Hangyul nods, he looks sad. Seungyoun feels his foul mood dissipates almost instantly. So that’s what it was about.

“I thought you thought I was horrendous in bed or something”, he mutters.

Hangyul gives him a disbelieving look. _“What?”_

Seungyoun shrugs, playing with a loose piece of thread hanging from his pants. “I was at a loss.”

“No, of course not. You were great”, Hangyul shakes his head. “Like, literally amazing-Jesus fucking christ, Seungyoun. Sometimes I really wonder what’s going on in your head”, Hangyul groans. Seungyoun smiles weakly. He’ll miss this. Bantering with Hangyul.

“I think”, Hangyul starts hesitantly and Seungyoun closes his eyes, mentally prepares himself for what’s about to come. “I need to apologize to my mom.”

He doesn’t answer, focuses on his breathing. For a second he considers asking why he has to, but then he drops that thought. It's not his business. Hangyul puts a hand on his shoulder and Seungyoun opens his eyes. The ghost’s eyebrows are creased in worry.

“I want you to be happy, Seungyoun. And”, Hangyul takes a calming breath. “…no matter how much I might want it to be, it can’t be with me”, Hangyul continues quietly and Seungyoun knows that, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.

He smiles ruefully and tussles Hangyul’s hair. “I know, Hangyul. I want you to be happy, too. I don’t want you to stay stuck in here forever.”

Hangyul leans into his touch. “I love you, Seungyoun.”

Despite everything, Seungyoun’s heart flutters. “I love you, too.”

Over the course of the couple of days Hangyul explains his plan. His adoptive mother needs to come to the apartment, obviously, since he can’t leave. Seungyoun somehow has to get her to invite Hangyul to show himself to her. (“I could only show myself to you when you said to show myself”, Hangyul explains, which is quite chilling to Seungyoun, because what if his drunk self hadn’t decided to invite Hangyul? He would’ve still been living in the apartment without ever knowing Hangyul existed.), then he’ll say he’s sorry and then, in the best case scenario, he should be able to move on. They both don’t speak about the worst case scenario.

Neither of them are in a rush, though. They’re content taking it easy to enjoy each other’s company as much as they can. Seungyoun’s able to mentally prepare himself as he holds Hangyul close every night. Knowing that it might be one of the last.

But then, after a couple of days, they both subconsciously know it’s time, because they’re getting too comfortable. So Seungyoun calls Hangyul’s mother and invites her over to talk, claiming he’s a friend of Hangyul’s. She’s a little hesitant at the prospect of him living in Hangyul’s old apartment, but he manages to convince her.

A day later he’s inviter her into the apartment. He’s taken aback by the similarities between her and Hangyul. Not physical, of course. But the way she’s carrying herself reminds him eerily of his lover. As she’s taking off her shoes he cuts a glance at Hangyul, the ghost looks pale and shaky as he’s staring at his mother. Seungyoun quickly looks away, feeling strangely like he’s intruding on a private moment.

“I’m so sorry about your son, miss Lee”, he says eventually when he’s given her a coffee and they’re both sitting, facing each other.

“Thank you, Seungyoun”, she gives him a weak smile. “Say, how did you say you knew my son again?”

“I went to the same school as him, I was a few grades older, of course, but we had the same friend group, so we did hang out during breaks and lunch”, he lies smoothly. Hangyul gave him the name of his high school in case his mother asks, but thankfully she just nods.

Hangyul sits down next to his mother, still staring. Seungyoun forces himself to keep his gaze on her. He’s had practice at this with his own mom, but of course not every instinct of his body was yelling at him to comfort Hangyul then.

“I only have good memories of him, he was a sweet kid. We lost contact after high school, but when I found out what happened in this apartment a couple of days ago I just couldn’t not do anything”, Seungyoun says regretfully.

“Oh no, I understand. It must’ve been quite a shock”, miss Lee nods solemnly. “I’m glad you reached out to me, I truly appreciate knowing there are people out there who care about my son.”

Seungyoun swallows at the sudden lump forming in his throat. “Of course, ma’am.”

They make some small talk and after giving miss Lee her second cup of coffee Seungyoun can’t ignore the look Hangyul’s giving him anymore. This is it.

“I’m sure you would do anything to see him again”, he says quietly.

Miss Lee pours some milk into her coffee with shaking hands. “I would do anything…”, Seungyoun can’t help it, his eyes travel over to Hangyul. He smiles and Seungyoun gives him a weak smile in return. “Anything to see my son awake again.”

Hangyul’s eyes widen. Miss Lee continues, spoon clanking against the side of her cup as she mixes. “Seeing him in that hospital bed every day has been torture. I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy.”

Seungyoun is speechless for a while, mind racing. Hangyul isn’t dead, not yet at least. He’s in the hospital. In exactly what condition, though? He can’t ask miss Lee, that would be too suspicious.

“I…I can’t imagine, miss Lee”, he croaks eventually. The older woman must take this as a sign of him getting emotional, because she walks over to him and grabs his hand. Her grip is surprisingly tight.

“I’m eternally grateful your concern, Seungyoun. Truly.”

Seungyoun quickly looks over her shoulder at Hangyul, who’s slumped on the couch. He needs to talk to Hangyul now, like, _right now_.

They make some more small talk and after promising her he’ll be sure to visit her son in the hospital he sees her out. As soon as he closes the door Hangyul is there.

“Search it”, he all but orders, looking more distressed than Seungyoun’s ever seen him. He doesn’t need to be told twice, he quickly grabs his phone and searches Hangyul’s name.

It’s in the first article he finds.

He reads it with a shaky voice. “_Neighbors heard the commotion and found trainee Lee Hangyul fighting for his life with his assailant still in the apartment, they were able to restrain the attacker and quickly contact the authorities. Lee Hangyul survived the attack, but is now in a coma. His attacker’s trial is later this year.”_

“What he fuck”, Hangyul says faintly, sounding breathless. “What the fuck.”

All the emotions of the past few days overpower him and Seungyoun punches him in the arm, hard. “Yeah, _what the fuck?_! You couldn’t have searched up your own name?! All this time-You would’ve known-“

Tears start running over Hangyul’s cheeks. “What the fuck.”

Seungyoun blinks his own tears away and laughs as he cups Hangyul’s face in his hands and wipes his tears away. “You’re alive, Hangyul. All this time you’ve been alive. You’re not a ghost!”

Hangyul sobs, grabbing tightly onto Seungyoun’s wrist like it's he's drowning and it's his only lifeline. “I’ve been here for so long.”

Pity overtakes Seungyoun. “You’re alive, Hangyul.”

Despite his tears Hangyul manages a small smile. “I’m alive.”

Then Hangyul’s gone. Much like he’d appeared, he’s there one moment and then the next he isn’t. Seungyoun nearly falls forward at the sudden lack of support. He blinks rapidly at the spot Hangyul suddenly _isn’t_ anymore and then blinks some more.

He misses Hangyul’s presence.

He nearly falls to the ground, disbelief coursing through him. Hangyul’s gone.

Back in his own body?  
Probably.

Seungyoun’s mind races, all he wants to do is go to Hangyul, but he doesn’t know where he is. Doesn’t even know if he’s awake in the first place. Doesn’t know if he’ll remember Seungyoun… He quickly strays away from that line of thought.

Besides, if anyone deserves to be with Hangyul first it’s his mother. His mother who’s been watching over her son who’s been in a coma for over a year, being there for him despite the fact that they’re not bound by blood.

So despite all his instincts telling him to go on a mad search for his ghost boy, he makes himself a cup of tea and forces himself to calm down.

If Hangyul’s awake and remembers him, he’ll come to Seungyoun. He’s sure of it.

Then, just as he’s about to go to sleep his phone bings.

**XX [23:12]**  
_Congratulations, mister Cho. You’ve got the job!_

This time he does fall to the floor, screaming loudly into his hands.

* * *

He wishes he could distract himself with friends that weekend, but he’s so worried about possibly missing Hangyul that he stays inside. As he’s sitting there doing absolutely nothing productive he wonders how Hangyul did it for almost a year. He didn’t even have any electronic devices to keep him busy.

For lack of having anything better to do he starts making a song. It’s possibly the most cliché love song he’s ever made, but it seems like his fragile mind that’s on the brink of a nervous breakdown just needs this right now.

He’s on the couch, listening to his song on loop eating ice-cream straight out of the container when the doorbell rings on Sunday-evening. For a second he’s annoyed, because he’s not expecting anyone and he’s having a_ moment_, but then realisation comes over him.

He all but throws his ice-cream to the side and sprints to the door. He throws it open. “Hangyul?”

And there Hangyul stands, he looks skinnier than the Hangyul Seungyoun remembers, but he’s grinning and his eyes are warm and bright as he asks: “You called?”

Seungyoun feels like all the breath has been taken from his lungs and he doesn’t speak (it’s almost unnatural to see Hangyul standing outside of the apartment), he just pulls Hangyul forward and into a crushing hug.

Hangyul hugs him back just as hard, his hand in Seungyoun’s hair as he shushes him and for a second Seungyoun wonders why he’s doing that, but then he notices the tears on his cheeks and he laughs at his own stupidity, before crying even harder

It’s possibly the most cliché thing ever, them having an emotional reunion whilst the song he’s titled ‘Ghost Boy’ plays in the background, but Seungyoun wouldn’t have it any other way.

“What is this song?”, Hangyul asks when he’s managed to drag Seungyoun over to the couch and he’s calmed down enough to stop bursting into tears each time he looks at Hangyul. He’s still clinging to him, though. As if he’s afraid he’ll disappear when he lets go. Which granted, he kind of is. 

Seungyoun can’t even find it in himself to be embarrassed. “I made it for you when you were gone.”

“You made it for me?”, Hangyul asks and he sounds touched. Seungyoun nods against his shoulder, where he’s draped himself over the other boy. Hangyul’s silent and they both listen to the lyrics.

“I guess the nickname ghost boy isn’t really relevant anymore”, Seungyoun says as it loops again.

“It never really was”, Hangyul says, but he sounds amused.

“I suppose that’s true. ‘Coma boy’ would’ve been more accurate.” He cringes at himself. “Oh wow, that sounded bad.”

Hangyul laughs, it’s the most genuine laugh Seungyoun’s ever heard from him. Unburdened from worries and the knowledge that he’s stuck. He peels himself from Hangyul and looks at him. There’s grin on his face.

“That sounded _so bad_. I guess ghost boy’ll have to do”, he says easily and somehow it’s that sentence that makes Seungyoun dive forward and kiss him senseless.

“Wait…”, Hangyul pants when Seungyoun’s tugging at his belt a couple of minutes later. He immediately stops.

“What? What is it? Are you okay?”, Seungyoun asks worriedly, checking him over. He swallows dryly when he notices the large scar on his abdomen where his shirt is riding up. It hadn’t been there in the form Hangyul had before. That Seungyoun is very sure of, seeing how he’d explored nearly every inch of Hangyul's body that one night.

“It doesn’t hurt”, Hangyul assures him when he notices where Seungyoun’s gaze is pointed at.

  
Seungyoun gingerly touches it, if only to confirm that Hangyul doesn’t recoil in pain. When he’s sure that’s not the case he looks up with a grin. “Not gonna lie, Hangyul. It makes you look so fucking cool.”

Hangyul smiles broadly. “Doesn’t it? A reminder of my ever so heroic act.”

“Oh man, you are a fucking badass", Seungyoun grins, before frowning. "But seriously, are you okay?”

“Look, it’s not that I don’t want to. Because I really _really_ do”, he lets out a small sigh and Seungyoun is almost reminded of the times he’d talked about that place in his head. “But… I mean, I guess I wanna do this the right way this time.”

And are Seungyoun’s eyes deceiving him or does Hangyul actually look shy? He wonders how he ever thought Hangyul was anything remotely close to intimidating. There’s none of his snarkiness when he says:  
“Besides, I still owe you a proper date, don’t I?”

Seungyoun smiles so big he’s sure he must look dorky as heck, but Hangyul’s smiling just as big, so it’s okay. “Yeah, I’d like that. And then maybe after that a little bit more.”

That startles a laugh out of Hangyul. “Yeah, after that we can do a lot more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've honestly really enjoyed writing this!! seungyul nation really are the most supportive, huh :')  
((there's still some unanswered questions, so i might write another chapter if you guys would like to know a lil bit more abt hangyul's past??))
> 
> ngl, this is absolutely not going to be the last you'll be seeing of me from this ship/fandom lmao
> 
> anyway, let me know what you thought of it!! <3
> 
> EDIT: LET IT BE KNOWN THAT I WILL FOREVER BE FURIOUS THAT X1 WERE TREATED LIKE THIS BY THESE DUMBASS COMPANIES I AM SO FUCKING MAN OMG

**Author's Note:**

> honestly i just wanted to post this fic before seungyul becomes one of the biggest ships once they debut :')
> 
> pls do let me know what you thought of it so far!!
> 
> [ my tumblr](http://chosyohan.tumblr.com).


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